The effects of feedback type and explicit associative memory on the effectiveness of delayed corrective feedback in computer-mediated communication

Abstract

The present study examines the impact of the explicitness of corrective feedback and explicit associative memory on the acquisition of -ing/-ed participial adjectives through delayed video-based corrective feedback. Fifty-two L1 Spanish learners were randomly assigned to one of three groups (implicit, explicit, or no-feedback) and performed an interactive task with an experimenter via a video-conferencing tool without receiving any feedback. At the end of the task, the feedback groups received a video replay with inserted oral corrections (either partial recasts or explicit corrections). The no-feedback group performed the interactive task without receiving corrective feedback. A paired-associates test with delayed recall was used to measure explicit associative memory. Pretest-posttest development was measured using oral production and grammaticality judgment tasks. Both corrective feedback groups outperformed the no-feedback group. While no statistical difference emerged between the two delayed corrective feedback groups, a small difference was detected for the explicit group when considering effect sizes. Moreover, a positive relationship was found between explicit associative memory and learning gains on the grammaticality judgment task.